Cindy Lange-Kubick: A transgender education, the story of one young man's journey

The first time we met, Wes Staley wore a hospital gown.

The 25-year-old was being prepped for surgery at Village Pointe Aesthetic Surgery in west Omaha.

His mom was there and his dad, and his partner, Scott Schneider, whod had the same operation five years earlier.

It was a sunny late-winter day and, in a few minutes, Wes would be wheeled into an operating room where a plastic surgeon would remove his nipples, and then his breast tissue, and then reattach his nipples a few centimeters farther apart than they had been before, to replicate a male chest.

Then hed sew him back up, leaving crescent moon-shaped scars just above his rib cage.

It would be almost as painful as it sounds.

The procedure would take less than an hour, and after another hour in recovery, Wes could go home where Scott would take care of him, and Wes would post photos of his progress on Facebook.

After all of the questions and post-op instructions, after his parents left the room and huddled in the hallway by boxes of silicone implants while the doctor examined their son, Wes would tuck his short, dark hair under a silver shower cap and head to the O.R.

Before he did, his mom would bend down for a quick hug.

Jan Staley was a little nervous, the way she used to feel before Wes had a piano recital.

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Cindy Lange-Kubick: A transgender education, the story of one young man's journey